


Idle Hands

by Tali_HO



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-12
Updated: 2013-01-11
Packaged: 2017-11-25 04:06:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/634942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tali_HO/pseuds/Tali_HO
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony was board. With no villains to fight,and a hero reputation to protect, his mind drifts to thoughts of Loki and how it's all his fault.FrostIron.Hurt/Comfort Eventually M.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tony was bored. It had been months. Months of uninterrupted calm since Loki had been defeated. Apparently the show of force that the Avengers had demonstrated in taking him down had made the villains of earth think twice about their plans. There was only so much time he could spend in his lab, and with Pepper handling the day to day of Stark industries, Tony was left with far too much down time. Ordinarily this problem could be solved quite easily, there were always party goers who would be more than happy to be blessed with his magnificent presence. However now that he was Iron Man, one of earth's mightiest heroes, he had something of a reputation to protect, besides the lecture he would get from Pepper wouldn't be worth it for a single evening of distraction. And so he found himself on a Wednesday night sitting in his penthouse at Stark towers, immeasurably bored and blaming Loki for every second of it.

Loki, the name brought many thoughts to mind. The most prominent of which was of course the memory of being hurled out of a window, but really that kind of experience tended to leave a strong impression. The second strangely enough was his eyes. Tony remembered the look in his eyes seconds before said hurling occurred. Those eyes held so much rage, and pain, and sorrow. Tony got the distinct impression that no one hated Loki more than Loki. All that bravado and grandstanding, all the drama, he seemed to be the type of man who wished to scrawl his name in the flesh of the universe. He seen to scream with his every action, I may not be loved but I will be seen, and I will be heard, and I will be remembered. Frighteningly enough tony supposed he could understand that feeling. He remembered, in that second, when he could barely breathe for those long white digits wrapped around his throat, he looked into Loki's eyes and saw beauty. It was like looking up at the sky though the eye of a storm. Even with the destruction the storm causes. Even with the evidence of all its fury and terror lain about, that one moment of eerie calm, holds such beauty. These thought all ran through his mind quickly on that day and the next thing he knew he was in free-fall and they were pushed to the back of his mind. But now in the quite of his tower they resurfaced.

When Tony realized that he had in fact been musing on the rather startlingly beauty of Thor's brother's eyes for the past half hour, he quickly came to the conclusion that a lecture from Pepper might be worth it after all. Besides who was he to deprive the nightlife his presence, and it's not like anyone really expected him to behave like a saint, hero or no. If the woman he found in his bed the next morning was in possession of raven hair and startling green eyes, he chose not to examine it too closely.

He took it back the lecture wasn't worth it. Good lord, this woman was the only one on the face of the planet who could actually make him feel guilty. Needless to say his explanation that he had been bored had hardly gone over very well with Pepper. After lecturing him on how 'He had a responsibility to set an example as a hero' and how she 'really thought he had made it past all this', Pepper had exacted her vengeance via the most despicable means possible. Paperwork.

"If you're in such desperate need of entertainment, HERE!", she said as she plunked down a huge pile of contracts in need of his perusal and or signature. Tony complained, he cajoled, he…alright he begged, but Pepper would not be moved. About halfway through the pile, Tony was vaguely sure that this sort of punishment could be constituted as a human rights violation, but Pepper had instructed Jarvis to tattle on him if he skived off. Betrayed, by his own creation. The work wasn't exactly scintillating, and Tony found that his mind began to drift. The guilt over his actions had now molded into annoyance. Now not only was he bored, he was stuck enduring this painful activity. And once again he found it was Loki's fault. The man/god/thing wasn't even in this solar system and he still managed to cause mischief. Tony found his aggravation only increased when he realized the direction his thoughts had drifted once again. Loki, it seemed idle hands drifted towards devils after all.


	2. Chapter 2

No sooner had he banished Loki from his thought when JARVIS voice announced. "Sir, there seems to be an anomalous energy disturbance forming on the balcony of your penthouse." "What sort of energy." Tony demanded as he headed for his suit with a slight spring in his step due to the now valid excuse to abandon paperwork. "Unknown sir, I have not found any comparable reading within my database." "Interesting", Tony murmured as the suit slipped in place. It was a slightly older model, but Tony felt it was better than nothing, and if he had time he would switch is for the newest version upstairs. Flying out, scanners at the ready, Tony's eyes could detect nothing unusual occurring on his balcony. His heads up display was telling a wholly different story, and he couldn't quite believe what those readings were telling him. The anomaly had shifted from a strange energy spike to what seemed to be, and Tony couldn't believe he was saying it, a hole in the fabric of reality. 'Well that's different." Quickly Tony sent out a message to summon the rest of the Avengers. If demon spawn came out of this thing he sure as hell didn't want to take them on alone.

Just as the message was sent a pulse of brilliant light shot out from the penthouse. If Tony had been looking at it with his naked eye he's certain he would have lost vision for a while. As it was he kind of wish he had, it would have spared him the view of the sight before him. Well it wasn't demon spawn that was a plus. It appeared to be a man, or what was left of him. Bloodied and beaten beyond recognition, Tony really didn't think this guy was much of a threat, but as he set down on the balcony he approached with repulsors raised. The man/slash punching bag let out a pitiful groan and tried to rise. "Whoa there buddy, I don't think that's a good idea" Tony said as in deference to the man's state he lowered his weapons slowly and moved to help him sit. "Easy now" he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone. "Help is coming. I'd fly you to the hospital myself but I think that would do more harm than good."

In the midst of signaling the team that they would need medical backup Tony found his helmet roughly grabbed. A raspy barely there voice whispered "Kill me." It was at once a demand and a plea. When Tony just stared at the man in shock and didn't respond, the man gave the helmet a weak shake and demanded once more " KILL ME!" Then Tony got a good look at his eyes. They were like looking into a hurricane. "Shit, Loki!" Those eyes still pleaded with him even as they smirked at his recognition. "Should be an easy enough task for you now," they seemed to say. Loki was a mess his face beaten and swollen to the point that you really couldn't recognize him. His clothes, pitiful rags that they were, were soaked in blood. As Tony took in the damage Loki answered his unasked question "Chitauri," he whispered and then promptly passed out.

Just then the Avengers arrived with a medical team in tow. "Tony!" the Captain shouted," what's the situation." "We need a medic out here!" Tony shouted in response. As the medical team took Loki from Tony's arms the Captain asked again "What happened?" "Well following what was apparent a rip in the fabric of the universe," Steve's eyebrows shot up, "that," he pointed at Loki, "fell onto my balcony." "And what, or who is that exactly?" For a split second Tony debated telling the truth, and then quickly dismissed it. If they knew who he was who knows what SHEILD's goons would do to him. They may even decide not to help him. Besides they would figure it out eventually, you know after they had treated the worst of his wounds. "No idea." He lied easily and did his best not to examine his choice to closely. After all Loki was pretty beat up. I mean unless you had in fact spent time contemplating his eyes, as Tony had a day ago, you would never recognize him. So you know he had plausible dependability. Ignoring his own panicked rationalizations, Tony tuned back in to what Steve was saying. "You and Bruce should examine the readings on this so called tear. Natasha and I will escort our new guest to SHEILD's Medical facility." "Actually Cap, since I found him I think I should go to the hospital and Bruce should go too, in case this guy has any weird alien biochemistry." "Why would you say he's and alien and since when do you voluntarily do hospitals?" Steve replied suspiciously. "Oh I don't know Cap, maybe because he appeared through a hole in the fabric of the universe. That doesn't really scream Terra Firma in origin to me. As for me going to the hospital it's obvious that he's been tortured, for gods sakes Steve he asked me to kill him. That kind of thing strikes you ok." Tony said this all in a rush hoping that he had given nothing away. Not that he even understood well enough what was going on himself. Steve gave him a long look. "Did he say anything else?" "No" With a sigh Steve said "Fine, you and Bruce head to the SHEILD's medical facility, download… or upload or whatever, take the readings on the tear with you and analyze them there as best you can, while they work on him." "Roger Rogers." Tony threw up a mock salute and took to the air.


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing Loki remembered after passing out on Stark's balcony was the sickening smell of disinfectant and the weight of chains on his wrists. They were obviously designed to drain his magic, as if he had any at the moment. Ripping holes in space time is not as easy as it looks. Right now even without the chains Loki could not hope to so much as levitate a feather. Magic aside Loki tried to affect the appearance of continued unconsciousness as he mentally assessed his location and wounds. Infernal beeping, a distasteful aroma which seemed to pervade all places of healing regardless of the realm, and bandages littering his many wounds, it would appear that Stark could not even follow the simplest of directions. Stark, Loki remembered the look of horror that overtook the man's face when he realized who had just appeared on his balcony. That horror surprisingly enough seemed to be not related to his identity, but a reaction to the damage his physical form had sustained. Curious. One would think tossing a man, rather unceremoniously, out of a window would relieve him of any pity. Apparently not.

Just then Loki heard a voice drifting in from the corridor. "How is he?" Speak of the devil as the mortals liked to say, the man himself. Another voice replied, Loki assumed a healer of some sort. "From what we can tell he's stable. We've treated all of the major lacerations and there appears to be no internal damage. I'd say whoever did this was looking to hurt not to kill." "Do you know when he'll wake up?" the Man of Iron enquired. "There's no telling. We're unsure if the mental processes of Asgardians are any different from that of humans, and with Thor back on Asgard there's no one to ask." "May I see him?" Stark asked in a low voice as if afraid of the question. "I don't think that's wise sir. Fury doesn't want anyone but necessary personnel to have contact with him until Thor returns or he's well enough to be questioned."

Loki could almost hear the winning smile that Stark most likely had plastered on his face as he tried to convince the healer to give him what he wanted. The thought had him suppressing a smirk of his own. "Come on, he's unconscious and bound by magic sucking chains. What possible difference could my relocation to the other side of this glass make?" "Sir those are Fury's orders, if you don't like it you can take it up with him. Now if you'll excuse me I have patients to attend." Loki heard the swish of a swift turn and footsteps retreating. Loki waited for the second set of footsteps to follow the healers retreat, as Stark had been denied entry. He waited, no footsteps. After a long couple of moments the voice of what must have been one of his guards broke the silence. "Sir I'm sure you have other things to occupy your time than staring at the prisoner. We know how to do our job Stark he's not going anywhere." There was another long pause, and Loki could almost feel Starks eyes boring into him. Then finally he heard the sound of footsteps retreating into the distance.

Loki relaxed marginally and contemplated Stark's decidedly odd behavior. Why did the Man of Iron wish to enter his room? If what he said was true Stark should have been able to see him, well enough through the glass to know he was contained. But then Loki thought of the questions Stark had asked. They had not been about his bonds but about his wellbeing. So curious. Why should and Avenger, a man who had played such a large role in his defeat, care if he was dying or not. One would think that anyone of Midgard would rejoice at his current state. And when he asked to see him, it was not, as the guard presumed, to make sure he could not escape. No the man had wanted to see for himself that Loki was alright. He was sure of it. But WHY? The thought spun round and round Loki's head as he fell back into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading. reviews welcomed!


	4. Chapter 4

The next time Loki awoke it was not to the confusingly concerned voice of Tony Stark. Instead he found he awoke to the sound of one big dumb Asgardian attempting to be quiet. Loki had to describe it as attempting because if there was one thing in which Loki had always outstripped his once believed brother, it was stealth.

"Loki I know you have awakened." Apparently however his observational skills seemed to have improved since their last encounter. Loki cracked a single eyelid just enough to direct a poignant glare at the thunder god.

"Come to view me in my misery?" the mischief god rasped. "I regret to inform you Odinson, that there is little of me left upon which to avenge yourself and your comrades."

"You cannot truly believe that is why I have come. Brother whatever sins you have committed we are family and if the state I am told you arrived in is any indication, I would wager you have paid any debts you may have owed me in full."

The earnest tone on Thor's voice made Loki want to throw something. "So easily you forgive, but if these chains are any indication your comrades aren't nearly so foolish Odinson, your attachment to your memories of me is bound to get you killed someday." Loki attempted to lace his words with as much threatening venom as possible. Unfortunately it came out as something of a desperate raspy whisper.

"If there is even the slightest chance of getting my brother back, it is worth the risk." Thor said in in uncharacteristically quiet voice. "What happened to you brother?" Loki tensed, but quickly recovered raising a single sardonic eyebrow. "I paid the price for you and your merry little bands interference." Loki closed his eyes and said in an almost bored tone, "It may interest you to know that another army is on the way. Thanos did not appreciate you breaking his toys, though I suppose that honor technically goes to Stark."

This revelation was met with silence. "To this the future king of Asgard has no response tisk tisk, I did not think you could be shocked in to silence, though I admit I prefer you in this state." Loki again opened his eyes and pined his brother with his intense gaze. "Let me be plain, I expended a great deal of effort to remove myself from Thanos'… hospitality. At the time I sought only to end my own suffering but circumstances have changed. I have no desire to return to it nor do I wish to be hunted or imprisoned. To that end I will supply you and your companions the information necessary to annihilate the oncoming hoard. In return I want asylum from the punishment that no doubt still awaits me on Asgard."

"Loki you are my brother, but if this is a trick I will not be able to protect you from the Midgardian's wrath." Loki sneered "If you truly believe as you stated earlier that I have paid for my crimes give my proposal to those who hold me captive. I speak the truth, and if they believe in nothing else tell them to believe in my desire for survival. Regrettably my fate is now tied to theirs." Loki again closed his eyes and spoke no more.

Two floors up Tony was wearing a linear hole in the carpet of one of the medical facilities meeting rooms.

"What's got him so wound up?" Bruce asked Clint as he approached down the hall leading to the meeting room. Clint glanced down the hall through the glass wall and shrugged. "Don't know but I'm staying out here till the meeting starts just watching him makes me antsy." Now that Bruce thought about it Tony had been a little off ever since Loki had reappeared. Not as obviously off as he was now mind you, more distracted. He looked tired too as if he was getting even less sleep than usual. Bracing himself Bruce headed down the hall towards the conference room.

Tony knew he should calm down and at least try to appear normal, but he found, as he abandoned his pacing and flopped down in one of the many chairs, that he just didn't have the energy. Scrubbing his hands over his face he tried to tamp down his anxiousness. It had been weeks with Loki falling in and out of unconsciousness and Tony waiting for Thor to return. In that time Tony though he might actually go crazy, not just the eccentric kind that he was famous for, no legitimately cracked. When Loki had shown up on his balcony battered, obviously having undergone torture, Tony had been horrified.

It wasn't until he tried to sleep that night, however, that he realized just how deeply that sight had affected him. His dreams took him back to the cave, back to his own personal hell. He stood there once again watching Yensin die, then suddenly Yensin morphed into a battered Loki, with those startlingly green eyes and cracked bloody lips that whispered "kill me." These dreams had eventually driven Tony back the medical facility. This would be twice that Tony had entered a medical facility of his own free will for Loki''s sake. He just needed to see him. He needed to replace that battered image with something new. And so he had gone and tried unsuccessfully to talk his way into Loki's room. He reassured himself that his desire to check on Loki's physical state was entirely selfish and for his own peace of mind. Yet as he sat in the conference room waiting for a meeting, yes he Tony Stark was early for a meeting, a sure sign of the apocalypse, the images and his anxiousness had not faded.

His thoughts were interrupted by Bruce entering the room. "Hey," he said with his characteristic hesitancy, "something I should know about you being early for a meeting is like Thor saying no to pop tarts, it just doesn't happen."

Tony pasted on an enigmatic smile "Nothing of note just wouldn't want you guys to start thinking I'm predictable." "Mhmm" Bruce hummed taking a seat opposite Tony and making it clear he didn't believe Tony one bit but was willing to let it drop.

Just then Steve entered followed by Natasha and Clint. "Hey Tony, Bruce", Steve greeted "Fury and Thor should be down in ten to brief us on the Loki situation." The new comers took their seats and Tony took a minute to marvel at how Natasha could make the simple act of sitting down seem threatening. He'd have to ask her to teach him that. The next second she caught his eye, Tony felt a shiver run down his spine at the look he received. Then again maybe not. He decided to direct his gaze to safer territory, Rogers! The boy scout was always good for a distraction. "So Capsicle how's life in dullsville?" Steve rolled his eyes and shot his patented 'really Tony' look down the table. "If by dullsville you mean being the leader of the Avengers and YOU, it's not so bad." This Steve delivered with a smirk that Tony is pretty sure he lifted from Tony's own arsenal. Narrowing his eyes tony decided that bantering with Rogers was no fun if he was just going to be talking to a poor imitation of himself.

For the next eight minutes Tony tried not to fidget, with mild success, and waited for Fury and Thor to show. He looked through the glass wall into the hallway. Ah, he never thought he'd be happy to see that eye patch.  
Opening the door there was an unmistakable tension to Fury's stance, well more tension than usual, which was saying something. Clearing his throat Fury began "Thor has just finished speaking with Loki, and according to him we have another army headed for earth." The table was briefly overcome with a stunned silence. Then Rogers broke in "Is there any way to verify this intel sir?"

"Not with our technology, but according to Loki a guy named Thanos is less than pleased that we destroyed his chitauri forces and is out for blood. He's asking for asylum in return for intel on their weapons and tactics as well counter measures."

At this the room erupted. "You can't seriously be considering this after all he's done." Clint declared incredulously "There are other ways to get the information we don't necessarily have to give him anything." Natasha stated with a scary calm. "How do we even know he's telling the truth sir?" Steve questioned. Bruce just looked like he was doing his best to stay human colored. While Tony directed a glare in Natasha's direction at her comment and said "Can we take the chance that he is?" "Alright everyone quite!" Fury yelled "Since Loki failed to provide them the Tesseract, it will take them several months to get here, according to Loki. We are going to use that time to try and verify his intel. Should that intel prove to be good we will enter discussions with Asgard to determine Loki's fate. However, until it can be verified Loki will remain in custody and be treated as the criminal that he is." This last part Fury directed at Thor and Tony got the distinct impression that he had missed a pretty hefty argument.

"I will return to Asgard and consult with my father as to how we might verify Loki's words. Know this Fury Loki is still my brother and whatever he has done, I nor my father will tolerate him being tortured for information." Fury fixed Thor with a glare but gave a tense nod nonetheless. "I will make haste; I expect to find Loki in good condition when I return." With that Thor left followed closely by Fury. Tony spoke into the tense silence. "Well that was interesting."


	5. Chapter 5

It had taken some convincing, a little bit of pleading, and a lot of Fury just really wanted Tony to get the hell out of his office, but Tony managed to worm his way in to see Loki. Why was it so important to see Loki, well it had been nearly a week since their little board meeting and the dreams had yet to stop. Tony had THINGS to do and this amount of sleep deprivation was pushing it even for him. So he had a plan, it was a brilliant plan, well as brilliant as he could get with his current lack of rest. He would see Loki prod him into being his snide condescending self and Tony's subconscious could happily shove Mr. green eyes back in the people who want to kill me category.

So now he stood in front of Loki's bed trying to decide whether he should wake him up or try to come back later. Tony contemplated the sleeping god appearance, except for some faint bruising along his jaw line and an overall weary look Loki appeared to be mostly healed. The decision on whether to wake him or not was made for him as the god stirred.

Opening his eyes, it didn't take him more than a second to catch sight of Tony. Half lidded eyes regarded him intensely as Loki raised a single sardonic eyebrow. And, dammit that was really hot. No, bad Tony, remember defenestration and stick to the plan.

"So, how you feeling." He whispered in complete contradiction to his thoughts. Loki smirked, "Like I am recovering from a rather lamentable amount of torture."

At a loss for words Tony made no reply and after a brief silence, Loki sighed catching Tony's eyes again "What are you doing here Stark?"

"Ostensibly, I'm here to interrogate you, in reality…" Tony Trailed off.

"In reality?" Loki queried in a low whisper.

"I needed to see you." And if that didn't just come out of his mouth all wrong, Loki's eyebrows made a swift bid for his hairline and Tony rushed to recover. "I mean you were pretty beat up when I saw you last, I needed a new image in my head."

For a minute Loki did nothing but stare at Stark as if he had grown another head. First the concern in the hallway and now this, had the mortal lost his senses. "Concern for the enemy, going soft on me now are you?" Loki said in mockingly seductive tones which quickly became biting, "Or is it simply pity, because I will tell you Stark that I will not abide."

There at the beginning Tony wasn't quite sure whether or not Loki had been flirting with him, but as his tone at the end brought them back to familiar ground. "Pity?" He said as if contemplating the word. "I'm pretty sure I don't do pity."

"Then what?" Loki asked eyes still narrowed his shoulders tense.

"You see I'm pretty sure I'm runnin this interrogation, so if you could just hold you questions that would be great." Tony responded with his usual arrogant sarcasm. There back on safe ground.

"I thought you were not here for an interrogation?" Loki responded equally snide.

"I changed my mind. It happens a lot ask anyone." He said breezily, "So Fury tells me you want our protection?"

"In exchange for essentially saving your miserable planet yes. Do not think I will let you out of answering my question so easily Stark. An answer for an answer. Why?" Loki hissed sitting up, his eyes growing an even more intense shade of green in his anger. Suddenly Tony found himself back in the moment that had distracted him all those weeks ago. Eyes like a storm. Remembering them was one thing seeing them again was another. Their intensity drew out the truth.

"I've been dreaming of you." Tony whispered hoping maybe Loki would not hear. The anger in Loki's eyes was replaced by shock then quickly suspicion. Tony barreled on. "I keep seeing you like you were on the balcony that night, asking to die." He risked meeting Loki's eyes. "You looked at me and you were glad that you wound up on my balcony because you were sure I would kill you, and I can't get it out of my head….It's not pity." Loki's eyes had regained their former intensity and Tony sighed and looked away, "I don't know what it is."

"But you did not, you did not kill me. The hero in you to strong to strike at the wounded and unarmed?" Loki narrowed his eyes and leaned forward cocking his head to the side, "You say it is not pity, was it malice? Did you want me to wake up here having to face what they had done to me?" Loki delivered these works in a low venomous tone full of accusation. "No!" Tony said too loudly then he got angry, "What kind of a sick…" He got in Loki's face to make sure the god would understand him "I wouldn't wish torture on anyone not you not on my worst enemy, got it!" tony shoved as much intensity as he could into his words.

There was a moment of silence where the god simply glared back at Tony not retreating, not giving an inch as the mortal invaded his personal space. Deciding to give as good as he got he slid closer and whispered in Stark's ear "Is that what I am Stark your worst enemy? An enemy that disturbs your dreams? I cannot help but wonder if I am the true origin of these nightmares, or did you too once beg for death?"

Tony recoiled as if he'd been struck. He glared at the knowing look that graced Loki's features and stormed towards the door. Before he could make his exit he heard Loki whisper "Sweet dreams Stark." Surprisingly these words had no malice in them, almost as if Loki truly wished him relief from his nightmares. Not knowing how to respond to that Tony left, feeling no closer to peace of mind than when he entered.

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter of my first fic!


End file.
